In a landmark decision on August 24th last year, a nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the fundamental right to privacy.

More recently, a committee headed by Justice B.N. Srikrishna submitted a report and a draft bill on data protection. Public Comments on the bill are due by early next month. The Supreme Court’s judgment on the Aadhaar challenge is imminent. There have also been other developments in this context such as RBI’s data localisation directive, the DNA profiling bill, the draft information security in health care bill, data localisation provisions in the e-commerce policy and the government’s recently withdrawn proposal to create a social media communications hub.

To commemorate the anniversary of the judgment and discuss the recently released Data Protection Bill, and related issues we are hosting this discussion on privacy and data protection.

Timings

Programme

6.00 – 6.15 pm

Tea & Coffee

6.15 – 6.20 pm

Initial Remarks

6.20 – 6.40 pm

State of Privacy in India & theChallenges to Realising Puttaswamy’s Promise

Dr. Usha Ramanathan, Independent Law Researcher

6.40 – 7.30 pm

Data Protection for a Free and Fair Digital Economy

The recently released draft data protection framework recognises the need to balance privacy and a free and fair digital economy. It articulates some of the benefits of big data and encourages its growth. However, it has been argued that compliance with such a framework will require the current business models to change. Additionally, stringent provisions mandating the jurisdiction for processing of personal data, and wide discretion given to the central government, and regulatory authority raise questions of its impact on the second largest online market in the world, home to nearly 500 million active Internet users and business located in it.

Moderated by: Mansi Kedia, Consultant, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER)

Smriti Parsheera, Technology Policy Researcher, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP)

7.30 – 8.20 pm

Legacy of the Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India Judgment

The court pronounced a landmark judgment last year, however it still needs to be examined whether judicial and legislative developments in India over the past year have upheld the principles enumerated in it. This includes the proposed data protection framework, and ongoing hearings on the right to be forgotten, Aadhaar and Section 377 and adultery, among others.

Moderated by: Apurva Vishwanath, Special Correspondent, ThePrint

Kritika Bhardwaj, Lawyer, Supreme Court of India

Shweta Mohandas, Policy Officer, Centre for Internet & Society

Smitha K. Prasad, Civil Liberties Lead, Centre for Communication Governance at National Law University Delhi